Royal Rumble (1996)

Last updated
Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble 1996.jpg
Promotional poster featuring Diesel performing a Big Boot on Owen Hart
Promotion World Wrestling Federation
DateJanuary 21, 1996 (1996-01-21)
City Fresno, California
Venue Selland Arena
Attendance9,600 [1]
Tagline(s)You've been Warned!
Pay-per-view chronology
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In Your House 5 		Next →
In Your House 6
Royal Rumble chronology
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1995 		Next →
1997

The 1996 Royal Rumble was the ninth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on January 21, 1996, at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 1996 event, the winner received a match for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania XII.

Contents

The main event saw The Undertaker face Bret Hart for the WWF Championship, where Undertaker won via disqualification due to interference from Diesel; Hart retained as titles do not change hands on disqualification unless stipulated. The undercard featured the 1996 Royal Rumble match, which Shawn Michaels won by last eliminating Diesel, becoming the second person to win the Royal Rumble match twice, and back-to-back, after Hulk Hogan.

Production

Background

The event was held the Selland Arena in Fresno, California. 2009-0725-CA-Fresno-SellandArena.jpg
The event was held the Selland Arena in Fresno, California.

The Royal Rumble is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV) produced every January by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, which were dubbed the "Big Four", [2] and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs, along with King of the Ring. [3] It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The match generally features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For 1996, the winner earned a match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XII. The 1996 event was the ninth event in the Royal Rumble chronology and was scheduled to be held on January 21, 1996, at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California. [4] [5]

Storylines

The event comprised five matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWF's writers, while storylines were produced on WWF's weekly television show, Raw . [6] [7]

It also was the first rumble that theme music was used when someone entered the rumble

Event

In a match occurring on the Free For All preshow, Duke "The Dumpster" Droese defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley. WWF president Gorilla Monsoon stepped in after Droese was pinned and reversed the referee's decision, disqualifying Helmsley for using brass knuckles to knock Droese out. As a result, Droese won the right to be entry number 30 in the Royal Rumble match, while Helmsley had to enter first.

Featured matches on the undercard were the 1996 Royal Rumble match which was won by Shawn Michaels, who last eliminated Diesel to win the match, making it his second straight Royal Rumble win; Goldust defeating Razor Ramon for the WWF Intercontinental Championship; and The Smoking Gunns (Billy Gunn and Bart Gunn) defeating The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip) to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship.

Aftermath

The 1996 Royal Rumble marked the first pay-per-view appearance of Steve Austin, here using the name "The Ringmaster," a blond-haired master ring technician and the featured wrestler in the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase's stable. His elimination was accidental as he was supposed to be in the final four, but he slipped on the ropes and fell out when he was doing a spot with Fatu. [8] In the weeks following the Royal Rumble, "The Ringmaster" gimmick was met with lukewarm reaction from fans, prompting Austin to create a new look and gimmick for himself: the "Stone Cold" gimmick, that of a foul-mouthed individual who drank beer and freely spoke his mind, uncaring of who he angered or whether he had friends (he often attacked heel and face alike), openly disregarded the rules and fought until his last breath. As "Stone Cold," Austin—who began his first major feud, with Savio Vega, under "The Ringmaster" moniker and continued it after changing his gimmick—went on to become one of the WWF's biggest stars and helped usher in the promotion's Attitude Era.

Results

No.ResultsStipulationsTimes [1]
1F Duke Droese defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley by disqualification Singles match for entry #30 in the Royal Rumble match 6:25
2 Ahmed Johnson defeated Jeff Jarrett by disqualificationSingles match6:40
3 The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) (c) defeated The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip) (with Sunny) Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship 11:14
4 Goldust (with Marlena) defeated Razor Ramon (c)Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship 14:17
5 Shawn Michaels won by last eliminating Diesel 30-man Royal Rumble match for a WWF Championship match at WrestleMania XII [9] 58:49
6 The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Bret Hart (c) by disqualificationSingles match for the WWF Championship 28:31
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match
F – the match was broadcast prior to the pay-per-view on Free for All

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations

A new entrant came out approximately every 2 minutes.

  – Winner

Draw [9] Entrant [9] Order [9] Eliminated by [9] TimeEliminations
1 Hunter Hearst Helmsley 19Diesel48:041
2 Henry O. Godwinn 2Jake Roberts16:240
3 Bob Backlund 1Yokozuna12:220
4 Jerry Lawler 16Shawn Michaels36:020
5 Bob Holly 18The Ringmaster39:350
6 King Mabel 3Yokozuna12:140
7 Jake Roberts 6Vader14:392
8 Dory Funk Jr. 5Savio Vega10:530
9 Yokozuna 11Shawn Michaels19:143
10 1-2-3 Kid 1315:400
11 Takao Omori 4Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Jake Roberts02:480
12 Savio Vega 10Vader12:281
13 Vader 12Shawn Michaels11:044
14 Doug Gilbert 7Vader02:590
15 Squat Team #1 801:110
16 Squat Team #2 9Yokozuna00:240
17 Owen Hart 21Diesel and Shawn Michaels20:432
18 Shawn Michaels -Winner26:108
19 Hakushi 14Owen Hart01:530
20 Tatanka 17Diesel04:091
21 Aldo Montoya 15Tatanka01:520
22 Diesel 29Shawn Michaels17:515
23 Kama 28Diesel15:571
24 The Ringmaster 23Fatu10:571
25 Barry Horowitz 20Owen Hart04:150
26 Fatu 24Isaac Yankem, DDS07:071
27 Isaac Yankem, DDS 25Shawn Michaels07:051
28 Marty Jannetty 22The British Bulldog02:350
29 The British Bulldog 27Shawn Michaels03:391
30 Duke Droese 26Diesel and Kama01:100

^ This was King Mabel's last appearance until he returned on June 30, 1998, for a one-off match with Ken Shamrock on Raw Is War.

^ This was Jake Roberts's return since his last appearance at Wrestlemania VIII on April 5, 1992.

Other on-screen personnel

Commentators
Interviewers
Ring announcer
Referees

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References

  1. 1 2 "Royal Rumble 1996 results". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
  2. ↑ Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160)
  3. ↑ Sullivan, Kevin (November 23, 2010). The WWE Championship: A Look Back at the Rich History of the WWE Championship. Gallery Books. p. 124. ISBN   9781439193211. At the time, SummerSlam was one of WWE's "big five" Pay-Per-Views (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, King of the Ring, and Survivor Series were the others), ...
  4. ↑ "Specialty Matches: Royal Rumble". WWE . Archived from the original on July 14, 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
  5. ↑ Waldman, Jon (February 2, 2005). "Statistical survival – breaking down the Royal Rumble". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
  6. ↑ Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE . Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Stone Cold's costly Royal Rumble slip". NewsComAu. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Shawn Michaels (spot No. 18) wins the Royal Rumble Match". World Wrestling Entertainment . Retrieved March 18, 2011.
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